At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Joe Brett—veteran and Harvard Kennedy School alumnus—addresses Ukrainian veterans of the Soviet-Afghan War. He writes, “I gave them a pin of my old unit, 24th Corps, which happens to be a blue heart on a white shield…or in this case a symbol for peace. We all wept when I gave this out with the words that it was up to us to all work for peace, now that we have met each other as brothers at this memorial…One former Soviet colonel hugged me and, with tears in his eyes, said that all soldiers should be veterans.”

At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Joe Brett—veteran and Harvard Kennedy School alumnus—addresses Ukrainian veterans of the Soviet-Afghan War. He writes, “I gave them a pin of my old unit, 24th Corps, which happens to be a blue heart on a white shield…or in this case a symbol for peace. We all wept when I gave this out with the words that it was up to us to all work for peace, now that we have met each other as brothers at this memorial…One former Soviet colonel hugged me and, with tears in his eyes, said that all soldiers should be veterans.”

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The Senior Alumni

The oldest graduates of Harvard and Radcliffe present at Commencement were 94-year-old Evelyn Richmond ’41, of Nashville, Tennessee, who was accompanied by her son, Clifford Richmond ’75, and 97-year-old Robert F. Rothschild ’39, of New York City, who came with his wife, Margaret Rothschild ’65. Both were recognized during the afternoon ceremony by HAA president Cynthia A. Torres ’80, M.B.A. ’84. Richmond, basking in what she called “a welcoming and friendly” crowd, added that her husband, the late Samuel B. Richmond, “was also the class of 1940—so Harvard is a family thing.” Last on campus for her tenth Radcliffe reunion in 1951, Richmond was drawn back this year by the special events of Radcliffe Day and the chance to hear President Drew Faust and Commencement speaker Deval L. Patrick. “I came through the procession with everyone clapping and the band playing all the old songs I know so well,” she said. “Harvard does it right. It was a great place when I was here, and it’s still a great place.”